Gowanus Open Studios, Dog Parade and a Week of NYC Art

Walking the streets of Gowanus during Open Studios on Saturday, a Hyperallergic writer found a neighborhood that has largely shed its old nickname, “Lavender Lake,” and turned into what the writer calls a bizarro landscape of glimmering apartment buildings. A Whole Foods now sits on the canal. Nearby, the writer notes, are “luxury” high-rises advertising iconic waterfront views, with studio apartments starting at $3,200 a month.

The writer’s skepticism is pointed. Though not a chemist, architect or physician, the writer wagers that everyone would have been better served if developers had waited for water remediation and sewage overflow prevention work to be finished before racing the area from Superfund site to residential destination. Permanent picnic tables and reclining deck chairs are already being installed along the canal’s banks.

At the Union Street studio of landscape painter Elizabeth O’Reilly, and in a handful of other studios, the writer found artists drawing inspiration from the neighborhood as it is. The writer called it endearing that they find beauty at both ends of the spectrum, from a toxic pollution hub to a shiny new playground for gentrification, and help others appreciate the importance of archiving it.

Elsewhere in the borough, Hyperallergic contributor Aaron Short visited the open studios programming in Red Hook and Sunset Park. According to Short’s reporting, Red Hook’s creative community is pressing forward 13 months after a five-alarm fire tore through a historic warehouse filled with converted artist studios, while studio spaces in Sunset Park remain, somehow, still affordable. On the other end of Brooklyn, local artist Jazmine Hayes describes the historical, spiritual and environmental symbolism in her Percent for Art commission at the new Brownsville Multi-Service Center.

The week also had its lighter side. Staff writer Anna Lee covered the Tompkins Square Dog Halloween Parade at ankle level, where Santa Paws, Vincent van Doge and the papal Pup Leo were among the costumed competition. Lee’s highlights are available for anyone who missed the event.

Gallery-goers have only days left to see Cannupa Hanska Luger’s “American Traditional,” which closes October 24 at Garth Greenan Gallery’s new Greene Street location. Hyperallergic Editor-at-Large and Co-Founder Hrag Vartanian describes the show as Luger’s “strongest work yet,” writing that the artist sets aside the participatory, ceramics-heavy projects he is best known for in favor of a synthesis of wood, ink and archive. Also on view: “Designed to Be Red: Native American & Indigenous Poster Works” at Poster House, through February 21, 2027.

Looking ahead, Hyperallergic is hosting its own Halloween party in Brooklyn on October 28, with an open bar, spooky cocktails, an art-themed costume contest and discounted tickets for members. DOC NYC returns to venues across the city from November 11 through November 29.